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“Yeah. I convinced her to give us a shot.”
“For the baby’s sake?”
His question, while innocent enough, pissed me off.
“Fuck no.”
He held up his hands in a calming gesture, grinning from ear to ear.
“Just checking. Didn’t want to have to save you from the wrath of River and Emory if they thought you were simply fucking around with a third of their girl squad.”
He stood to leave but stopped in the doorway briefly before turning to face me.
“We’re here for you, Fratello. I know our little chat the other day only busted through the outer layer of your shit, so when you’re ready, we want to hear the whole story.”
“The good, the bad, and the ugly, huh?”
“That’s what brothers are for, asshole.”
With that, he strolled out, leaving me to gather my thoughts before I faced another day filled with uncertainty. There seemed to be quite a few of those lately and it had me on edge more than usual. Ever since those three days of hell in the desert, my head was on a constant swivel, searching for danger. But how was I supposed to fight against the enemy within? The one in my head who remembered the battered bodies of the soldiers under my command as they were airlifted to safety. Then there were the voices of our captors. I could still hear them clearly in my dreams, taunting me while I remained silent like the good soldier I’d been trained to be.
“Your class is here,” Gabe called from the hallway.
Shaking the cobwebs of the past from my mind, I grabbed my phone and went to the one place where my control never faltered.
My mat.
_______________
THWACK
Smiling internally at the sound of Agent Clarke’s body slamming into the mat, I quickly moved into a defensive stance while he sprang up from the floor. He was pissed, which was nothing new, considering he’d walked into the building with the same sneer on his face. The question was why?
Before our interactions at Quattro, I’d never met the man, which made his attitude all the more confusing. Initially, I figured he was simply blowing off steam, possibly angry with his superiors for insisting on his participation. Now though, he’d made the choice to return, to pay our fees out of his own pocket. None of it made sense.
“Have you had enough yet?” I couldn’t help the taunt which slipped from my mouth.
Instead of answering, he came at me hard. Strike after strike, I defended each swing of his arm or kick from his leg easily. He was fighting with emotion instead of precision, which would get this idiot killed in the field.
“Stop,” I commanded.
“What’s the matter?” he scoffed. “You afraid of a little competition?”
“No, moron,” Luc shouted from the sidelines. “He doesn’t want to embarrass you in front of your peers again.”
“You could excel at this if you’d get your head out of your ass long enough to take instruction, Agent Clarke,” I offered.
“Oh yeah? I suppose you want toinstructme?”
He swung out again, missing his target as I bypassed the attack with a simple step to the side.
“Isn’t that why you’re here?” I asked.
“Nah. I’m here to knock your arrogant ass down a peg or two.”
Luc roared with laughter while I studied the man in front of me. He was close to my age, possibly a few years younger, and it was obvious he’d spent a great deal of time in the gym. His eyes were almost the same shade as his hair, but they were empty, cold.
“Oh.” I shrugged. “In that case.”
